Although currently under construction, the Great Southern Adventure will serve as the ultimate southern to-do list - from mom and pop restaurants to bizarre roadside attractions, from regal hotels to once in a life time experiences - I'll check them off one by one and blog about them as I go!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

As I was searching for the internet for a formal explanation of King Cakes, I came to the realization that sometimes the all-knowing internet... just doesn't know.

As I was searching for an articulate bit on the symbolism of the Baby Jesus that gets hidden in each cake, I've read some people saying if you get the baby you'll get "knocked up" (yes...thats the terminology used) or some even saying that the baby is bad luck and to avoid it!

Um. Hi. We're the South.

For the most part, we're a friendly happy people who wish you well.

Trust me! You WANT to get the baby in your slice!

Finding a little plastic baby in your slice of cake grants you the title of King/Queen of the party!

((But with great power comes great responsibility! Get the baby and it's your job to bring the king cake to the next party!))

As you already know, I absolutely love sharing bits of my upbringing and culture with others. So when my Canadian friend Jess came down last year for Mardi Gras - I had a list of things that she hadddd to experience.

First up? King Cake.

And in order to let her get the full experience, I not so stealthily hid Baby Jesus in her slice. And then I told her about it. If you're not on the lookout for him, Jesus can be a bit of a choking hazard.

Insanity ensued as we exchanged not so politically correct jabs at each other's religions - "You do realize you're licking icing and sprinkles of your Lord and Savior, right?"

And in a hazy moment of truce and genius, we decided to make King Cake Baby our third wheel for the weekend....

Check him out.

The Before Shot

"OH JESS! You got the baby!"

Cleaning the baby up

So what exactly do I do with him now?

King Cake Baby Jesus (KCBJ) surfing on the North Shore.

Audience with his people from his papal balcony

Looking for tigers in the jungles of Costa Rica

Squashing grapes in the wine region of China

Camping Trip to Sweet Tea Reserve

Tasting the sensation...

Exhausting Photo Shoots at the Wal-Mart Picture Studio

Blowing up the club with his boy, Hot Boy Ronald

Writing a little poetry at the local Art Bar

He's with the band...

Even (unknown) rockstars want to get a photo with him...

"Jess... Why is KCBJ always picking on me?!?"

Here's the Details:

A post will go up each Thursday about King Cakes.

Leave a comment on the King Cake Post telling me you're a follower for one entry.

Leave another comment answering that posts question for a second entry.

Post about the giveaway on any social media outlet, and leave a comment with the link to it for a third entry.

Each entry must be left in a separate comment, or it will all be counted as one entry!

No one is exempt from the contest! Anyone and everyone is encouraged to enter!

If you don't win one week, come back and enter the next week!

That weeks entry deadline is the Tuesday following the post at noon CST.

I will draw the 2 winners at random and announce it at 1pm CST on Tuesday.

That weeks winners will have until midnight on Tuesday to send me their mailing address.

King Cakes will be shipped out on Wednesday and the whole thing will begin again the next day.

**I feel silly for posting this, but it must be said. I have nothing to do with the making of the king cakes, therefore, please know that Dixie Lust is not responsible for any food allergies or reactions that may occur**

This week's Q: If you got the baby in your slice of king cake, what would you do with it? Carry him around for good luck? Tape him to your computer monitor? Send him in a care package? Paint him on a little Saints Uniform??

ps. I know that I haven't posted the King Cake Giveaway for last Thursday. My (real life) job was insanely busy and required all my energy. So to make up for it, I will put up the King Cake post on Thursday and draw 2 winners on Tuesday.

~ A post will go up each Thursday about King Cakes.~ Leave a comment on the King Cake Post telling me you're a follower for one entry.~ Leave another comment answering that posts question for a second entry.~ Post about the giveaway on any social media outlet, and leave a comment with the link to it for a third entry.~ Each entry must be left in a separate comment, or it will all be counted as one entry!~ No one is exempt from the contest! Anyone and everyone is encouraged to enter!~ If you don't win one week, come back and enter the next week!~ That weeks entry deadline is the Tuesday following the post at noon CST.~ I will draw the winner at random and announce it at 1pm CST on Tuesday.~ That weeks winner will have until midnight on Tuesday to send me their mailing address.~ King Cakes will be shipped out on Wednesday and the whole thing will begin again the next day.

This week's Q:King Cakes have lots of yummy fillings. What filling(s) would you choose?

Thursday, January 7, 2010

It's time to face the facts. My little Dixie Lust can't do it all. I can detail carnival traditions that I've taken part of since I was a toddler. I can take you along on this year's Mardi Gras adventures with my tweets. Hundreds of uploaded photos can draw you in to the flashy metallics of the beads and dublooms. Weekly music playlists can make you want to dance in the streets along with the second line.

But you and I know both know the best way to experience something - to experience something like a true southerner is to taste it!

So! I'm so super excited to announce that every week between now and Mardi Gras I will be giving away one of these babies....

((hey hey baby Jesus!))

((so this isn't a Meche's King Cake but its all I have on such short notice. Check back next week for actual photos))

That's right. Every week between now and February 16th, Dixie Lust is going to be giving away a King Cake along with some other Mardi Gras goodies.

Everyone around here is fiercely protective of their favorite bakery when the talk turns to King Cakes. There are entire conversati...*ahem* arguments over which bakery in south Louisana has the best cake. And I'm no different. I absolutely love the King Cakes from Meche's Bakery. I grew up on them and to this day they're my go-to cake. If you win, you'll get to see what all the fuss is about!

Here's the Details:

A post will go up each Thursday about King Cakes.

Leave a comment on the King Cake Post telling me you're a follower for one entry.

Leave another comment answering that posts question for a second entry.

Post about the giveaway on any social media outlet, and leave a comment with the link to it for a third entry.

Each entry must be left in a separate comment, or it will all be counted as one entry!

No one is exempt from the contest! Anyone and everyone is encouraged to enter!

If you don't win one week, come back and enter the next week!

That weeks entry deadline is the Tuesday following the post at noon CST.

I will draw the winner at random and announce it at 1pm CST on Tuesday.

That weeks winner will have until midnight on Tuesday to send me their mailing address.

King Cakes will be shipped out on Wednesday and the whole thing will begin again the next day.

**I feel silly for posting this, but it must be said. I have nothing to do with the making of the king cakes, therefore, please know that Dixie Lust is not responsible for any food allergies or reactions that may occur**

Oh yes... It's upon us! and for those of you who no nothing about Mardi Gras - or for those of you who know it as "binge drinking on Bourbon" consider Dixie Lust as your one-stop Mardi Gras Education headquarters. From Mardi Gras trees to the second line, from Al Hirt to Bacchus, from Krewes to King Cake - I'm covering it all!

And now is not the time to hold on y'all so we'll start with Kings Day!

If you're wondering how we Loozianians know it's time to start partying or how we know our favorite bakery is whipping up King Cakes, let moi explain.

Today is the twelfth day of Christmas or for the Christian folk, the Epiphany...which in part celebrates the three Magi or the three Kings visiting the baby Jesus. Here in Louisiana, the Epiphany or King's Day is known to mark the start of the Mardi Gras season. While a lot of people know Mardi Gras as Mardi Gras Tuesday - the day before Ash Wednesday, we actually celebrate for a couple weeks. The time between Kings Day and Mari Gras Tuesday is jam packed with masquerade balls, parades, and my favorite - king cakes! And while Mardi Gras is celebrated all throughout the Southern Gulf Coast, tonight the New Orleans Krewe Phunny Phorty Phellows will commandeer a streetcar for its traditional stroll through Uptown to announce the Carnival Season.

The past two mornings as I stood at the end of my driveway, frantically clawing ice off my windshield with my pasty white bare hands in an effort to not be late I thought to myself, "I may not be up with all those new-fangled northern weather gadgets, but don't they make some sort of device to do this crap?"

Monday, January 4, 2010

Y'all really,... I hate to brag, but I've had theee best New Years extended weekend. Way better than I expected it to be - so to 2010, keep up the good work buddy. You're sucking way less than 2009.

New Years Eve is hands down my favorite pseudo-holiday. It's just one of those kind of nights. It's just about friends and family coming together - it's not about the truckloads of presents or slaving away in the kitchen all day. Everyones in this weird, hopeful, happy trance as we wish upon the clock for the best year yet.

This year, we did another bonfire at LyLa & her hubby's house out in Henry (read: Boondocks) - it's the second year that we've done our NYE thing there. There's something about their house that feels like home. Maybe its the fact that LyLa alwaaaays has something amazing cooked up (Seriously. This time around it was 4 types of homemade kolaches, 2 types of brownies, and some sort of cheese dip in a a heated dip bowl that looked like a Sombrero...don't even ask on the last bit). Maybe it's all the puppies and Mama Cat running around and snuggling up in your lap. Or it's possibly the fact that if you decide last minute to spend the night, there are a pair of pajama pants and a blanket waiting for you on the couch. Maybe it's all of that plus a few other things that have MTher and I begging for LyLa to adopt us. Like I said... It just feels like home. And theres no where else I would have rather spent my last day of 2009.

The night started off with grand ideas of a bon fire (real logs! no pallets!) complete with s'mores - but at 10 minutes 'til midnight it started raining and everyone headed in to the kitchen. As we stood around the kitchen - everyone still catching up with each other - someone turned on the TV in the other room and the countdown began. It made me laugh to myself... we all counted down with a little less enthusiasm than normal and as the clock struck 12, the room was oddly silent. Everyone lined the kitchen cabinets, arms crossed or holding their drink close to their chest, eyes darting around the room and finally resting on the floor. Then someone said what we were all thinking.... "Man.... we're getting old." A bunch of twenty somethings.... feeling old. What a way to bring in 2010.

As if feeling "old" wasn't enough - we added insult to injury and gathered around LyLa & D's new TV (hello gorgeous!) and attempted to play "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" on the Wii. Turns out...we're not.

Oh man - we were awful! We had the med student guessing at 5th grade health, the MBA student trying to help, and a draftsman attempting 2nd grade measurements. Finally, we just started yelling out the first answer we saw and hoped it was right.